Welcome to Gaia! ::

For introductions, I present myself, Javinus. As I type this up and prepare it for its debut here at the Band Geek Guild on GaiaOnline.com, I am twenty-two years of age and happily married. I am a music enthusiast, playing various instruments for at least twelve years through middle, high school, and college. Now, I am a music teacher and professional musician. I specialize in stringed instruments, but am equipped and prepared to direct also band and chorus. My primary instrument is violin, but I also play piano, the rest of the orchestral string family, sing, and have mild experience with woodwinds, brass, and percussion. I enjoy interacting with students of all ages, and all my students say they enjoy interacting with me.

Many may notice I have started a similar thread in the main forum pertaining to General Music. However, this particular thread is devoted to anything and everything about the string musical family. I ask that you post your questions in its corresponding thread.

I have been playing violin for twelve years as I compose this post. I am an orchestra teacher and private lesson tutor. I believe that I can answer questions about strings and the orchestral setting.



Bring questions about fingerings. Bring questions about the brands of strings. Bring questions on whether one can fix this problem at home with some tape, or if it needs to go to the shop.

My only request that if you are going to ask questions about specific repertoire, such as, "What Grade V piece can I play for Solo and Ensemble?" I ask that you do some of your own searching to try and answer your question before coming to me. I have a horrible time remembering titles for compositions.



I will check this thread alongside its sister thread daily (or near daily) to ensure there are no questions unanswered.

Best Beethoven symphony?

OK, now narrow it down and pick your one favorite movement from a Beethoven symphony.

I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours smile

Ah, I suppose I didn't think playing versus listening.

My favorite movement is the 2nd movement from the 7th symphony. So personalized, so full of emotion.

You have a very good start when it comes to good tone on a stringed instrument. Yes, keeping the bow parallel between the bridge and fingerboard is key. However, it is not the only puzzle piece when it comes to tone quality.


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Keep these other things in mind:
Bow Pressure: I'm sure when you first started out on your stringed instrument, you just had to put that hair on the string and let it rip. We all did when we were beginners (my college violin professor actually made us practice that as freshman for technique building). Sounds awful, doesn't it? Aren't there also some times in class when you just have to fake playing because you don't know where you are? So you just pull the bow over so lightly, the string can't vibrate at all. What we want for proper tone is a happy medium between the two extremes. It takes a lot of experimenting to find it, but your ear will be the judge.

Bow Placement: You have the direction of the bow part down. Congratulations. Also note just how far from the bridge and fingerboard the bow is. Yes, this is often manipulated during performance to achieve more of an effect for dynamics (play closer to the fingerboard for piano, closer to the bridge for forte), but don't go overboard with it. Try to stay right in the middle while developing your tone.

Bow Angle: Believe it or not, the hairs of the bow aren't suppose to go flat on the string. Proper playing should have the wood of the bow leaning towards the scroll of the instrument. If I had to put a measurement on it, I'd say have it lean at a 45-degree angle (at least, that's what I play at). The reason for this? To be honest, I don't know and haven't experimented enough to figure it out.

Proper Bow Maintenance: Keep the bow adequately rosined (duh). Make sure your bow hairs are clean and replaced regularly. Loosen the hairs when the bow is not in use.

String Maintenance: Wipe off the strings after practice and performance to prevent rosin from caking up on them with a dry rag. Never get polish on the strings. Replace strings regularly (every 3-6 months is best). Replace dead-sounding and unraveling strings immediately. Do not mix old strings with new strings.


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One of the key things to help with ALL aspects of tone production is proper bow grip. For your at home practice, try working on your tone with long tones, like going up a simple scale in whole notes or longer. Be sure to use the whole bow, from frog to tippy tip. If you aren't happy with the tone of a particular note, keep playing it until you are.

If the sound on the whole just sounds dead, look inside the instrument's left F-hole and see if the sound post is still properly positioned. If it has fallen down or simply isn't there, a trip to the shop is in order.

Hope that helps!

I think it sounds perfectly fine with an excess of rosin also, but it is a waste if it's flying off the bow when you play (not like you can recapture the little dust particles and reapply them), and the dust oftentimes collects on your instrument or cakes on the string, requiring more effort to keep everything clean and shiny.


My method to check to see if there's enough rosin is after applying, brush the hair of the bow, right at the frog, on the back of my wrist. If I don't see any white at all, there's not enough. If there's a blatant white stripe on my arm, there's too much. If I can barely see white on my skin, it's just right.

Many teachers frown upon this because it breaks the sacred rule, "NEVER TOUCH THE HAIR!!!" However, I do this so close to the frog, it's in an area I practically never play in (except when I'm in lesson), and after I check, I apply a few strokes more rosin to help cover it up. A good hand washing to rid your skin of its natural oils is a good idea too. Also regular hair replacement remedies this.

And the thread makes a triumphant return after its proper relocation to the Orchestra/Chorus Subforum! Woohoo!

Now for the slightly tardy weekly update of things to know for strings! Can't we feel the enthusiasm?!


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One advantage stringed instruments has over wind instruments is the ability to sound more than one note simultaneously. Even though guitarists start learning their instruments with chords, orchestra players do not. It is considered to be a more advanced skill.

Let's start with some terminology:

Double Stop: Alfred's Pocket Dictionary of Music defines this to be two tones played simultaneously by one player. Note that this is limited to two tones.

Chord: Defined by the same music dictionary to be three or more tones simultaneously.


Now the burning question is How to we accomplish these?

The double stop is easy. All we have to do is to angle the bow in such a way so that the hairs are on two strings at the same time. When practicing this, start out on open strings and try to balance the two notes so that both sound equal (as opposed to one note sounding louder or stronger than the other). This skill is often used for tuning our instruments or checking to see if particular notes we are playing are in tune (play a 3rd finger D on the A string --4th for cello and bass-- , and compare it with a double stop to the open D string).

Playing chords is the tricky part. Why is it tricky? Well, pick up your instrument and try playing three (or even all four) strings at the same time. Pretty difficult, hm? That is because our finewood instruments have a curved bridge (it's this way so that we have less trouble trying to play one string at a time). So, to get three strings vibrating at the same time, follow these simple instructions

1) At the frog of the bow, play a double stop on the lower string and the middle string of the chord being played. It's best to put a little extra oomph into this stroke.

2) After those two strings get good and vibrating (take no more than 1/5 of the bow to accomplish this), roll the bow over to the middle string and high string.

To play all four strings at once, start off on the two lower strings, then roll over to the two higher strings.


Yes, I know it does not seem like we are playing all three or four strings at the same time with the bow rolling around like this. The premise behind this is that even after we have switched to the higher strings, the lower strings are still vibrating, enabling all notes played to be heard at the same time. Can't hear all four notes? Try balancing just how much bow used on the lower strings, how strongly they are played, and how quickly and accuratley the bow switches to the higher strings. Something else to watch out for is allowing the chord to sound like an arpeggio. Aim for always playing two strings at once when rolling the bow over, not one at a time.



And that's our string fact for the week!

Thanks for your patronage to my thread! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.


I understand what you are saying. The Bartók Pizz does sound detrimental to our finewood instruments. However, like with most harsh things when it comes to music, use moderation. We're not trying to pull our strings a mile into the air before letting it slap against our fingerboard... just pull enough tension into it to get the desired effect. With a little experimenting, I'm sure you'll find out it doesn't take too much to get it what you want it to do.

We can also rest assured that there are simply not too many compositions out there that require us to perform this special feat, so your violin can breathe easy.